Read Online Under the Boardwalk: A Dazzling Collection of All New Summertime Love Stories by Geralyn Dawson - Free Book Online

taken them in the first place."
    "If he left them out, the amount of rain we had last night would have sunk them," Lilah pointed out. "It takes a lot of rain to swamp a boat, but I think we had enough to do the job, don't you?"
    "Probably." Getting up from the table, he walked into the Irving room and looked out the window. "Yep, it's the cavalry."
    Lilah stood beside him and watched the boat carrying two deputies approach her small dock. The river was high and muddy after the night's storms, so high her dock lacked only a few inches being underwater. They carefully tied the boat to the post and stepped out, both wearing Kevlar vests and carrying shotguns. They cautiously looked around.
    Jackson quickly bent and kissed her, his mouth warm and lingering. The look he gave her was full of regret. "I’ll come back as soon as I can," he said, keeping his voice pitched low. "I doubt it'll be today, and whether or not I can make it tomorrow depends on how much damage the storms did, and if there are any power outages or cleanup to do."
    "I’ll be here," she said, her manner calm. She smiled. "I have no way of going anywhere, without my boat."
    "I’ll either get it back, or I’ll make damn certain Thaniel buys you a new one," he promised, and kissed her again. Then he picked up his vest and shotgun, which he had placed by the front door in anticipation of his "rescue," and walked out on the front porch.
    Both of the deputies visibly relaxed when they saw him. "You okay, Sheriff?" the older of the two called.
    "I'm fine, Lowell. But Thaniel Vargas won't be when I get my hands on him. He stole both the boat I was using, and Miss Jones's boat. But he'll wait; how much damage was there last night?"
    Lilah stepped out on the porch behind him, because it would look strange if she didn't. "Good morning, Lowell." She nodded to the other deputy. "Alvin. I just made the sheriff some coffee; would y'all like a cup?" She saw Jackson's brows rise in surprise that she knew his deputies, but he didn't comment.
    "No thanks, Lilah," Lowell answered. "We need to get on back. Thanks for offering, but I've drunk so much coffee since midnight I doubt I'll sleep for two days."
    "The damage?" Jackson prompted, taking charge of the conversation again.
    "Power was out over most of the county, but it's back on now all except for Pine Flats. A lot of trees went down, and there's roof damage to a bunch of houses, but only one actually went into a house, the LeCroy place out near Washington High School. Mrs. LeCroy was hurt pretty bad; she's in the hospital in Mobile."
    "Any car wrecks?"
    Lowell gave him a weary look. "More than you can count."
    "Okay. Sorry I wasn't on hand to help."
    "I'm just sorry it took us so long to get out here, but with the storms the way they were, only a fool would have gone out on the water."
    "I didn't expect anybody to risk their lives coming after me. I was okay, just stranded."
    "We weren't sure, what with Jo telling us she sent you here after Thaniel Vargas. But Thaniel seemed okay, not nervous or anything, and he played dumb, said he hadn't been up here and hadn't seen you."
    "You saw him?" Jackson asked sharply.
    "He helped us get a tree out of the highway. Anyway, we figured the storm had caught you. We didn't want to take any chances, since you could have run into some other kind of trouble out here, so we came looking."
    Jackson shook his head. He never would have figured Thaniel capable of that much brass; maybe that thickheaded act was more of an act than fact. If so, he'd have to take Thaniel a lot more seriously than he had before.
    Walking down to the dock, he handed the shotgun to Alvin and stepped into the boat. "Well, let's go to work," he said. He turned and raised his hand. "Thanks for feeding me, Miss Jones."
    "You're welcome," she called, smiling as she hugged her arms against the early morning chill. She waved them good-bye, a wave both deputies returned, then went back into the house.
    Jackson settled onto